Harlech Foodservice School Competition Winners 2018 - 31/7/18

With the rise of the “Attenborough effect” 2018 has seen a huge amount of press coverage highlighting how our oceans, beaches and seas are being polluted with rubbish and plastic having a major effect on sea life.

With this in mind Harlech Food Service decided to launch their Eco school competition in conjunction with the Gwynedd Councils maritime services. The competition was aimed at schools across the Gwynedd, Conwy and Anglesey County Council areas. Harlech Foods asked for the school children to draw a picture or write a poem which would promote “keep the beaches clean” theme.

The prize for the winning entry was £500 and an Ipad for the school. After weeks of judging the entries the winning poster was a joint effort by Ilse Margreta Griffith and Elin Haf Owen from Ysgol Y Felinheli.

There were over 40 schools entered and over 500 entries. The quality of the entries made it very difficult to choose just one winner so there were also 2 runner up prizes of family passes courtesy of Surf Snowdonia. Runners up are Ceiri Davies from Ysgol Pentreuchaf and Ffion Mai Jones-Davies from Ysgol Abererch.

Keep your eyes peeled for the winners posters on and around our coastline. If you see the poster please feel free to take a picture and share to Harlech Foodservice @harlechfoods on Facebook and twitter.

Harlech Food Service along with Gwynedd Council and maritime services would like to say a massive thank you and well done to all involved.

Live cookery demos will once again be held in the specially created second floor demo area. The demos provide inspiration for chefs of all levels with the chance to see and sample products from the SOSA and Chef’s Cuisine ranges, to ask questions and receive practical advice from top industry professionals.

The show also offers the opportunity for trade customers to take advantage of hundreds of exclusive offers with many exhibitors offering free samples and great incentives on show orders. From artisan producers and big name brands to chocolatier and fine wine master-classes the Foodservice Expo 2018 is certainly a must for anyone in the catering and hospitality industry.

Bwydlyn up for Foodservice Processor of the Year Award

They have been chosen as one of four finalists who are up for the Foodservice Processor of the Year awards. The Meat & Poultry Processing Awards recognise and reward excellence and innovation by processors and processing companies who are driving forward initiatives and improvements in both the home and export markets. The awards are now entering their eighth year and continue to go from strength to strength, attracting top-rate entries from large and small businesses across the entire industry.

The awards will be held at the Hilton Manchester, Deansgate Hotel on Thursday 2nd of March.

Silver and bronze medals for Wales at the Culinary Olympics - 26/10/16

The Wales junior team followed up their silver in the hot kitchen by winning a second silver in the cold edible buffet and live theatre - a new element of the competition - on Monday, while their senior counterparts collected three bronze medals.

After coming agonisingly close to a gold medal in the hot kitchen, the junior team entered new territory with the cold edible buffet and were delighted to collect a second silver. The senior team, which included two newcomers to international competition, were satisfied with their two bronze medals in the cold table display.

Thirty-two national senior teams and 20 junior teams from around the world cooked over four days of intense competition. The Culinary Olympics are organised every four years and endorsed by the World Associations of Chefs’ Societies, or Worldchefs, of which the CAW is a member.

“To win silver and bronze medals at the Culinary Olympics is a great achievement by our junior and senior chefs and gives us a strong foundation to build on for our next big challenge, the Culinary World Cup in 2008,” said Culinary Association of Wales president Arwyn Watkins.

“With a number of the team members competing at the highest level for the first time, the medal total is an excellent result. Some countries did not win a medal in the competition, which puts our achievement into perspective.

“The junior team had an exceptional competition and it’s great news for the Culinary Association of Wales because it shows that we have very talented young chefs who are coming through to compete for places in the senior team in the future. The international experience that they have gained will be invaluable to their progression.

“For the senior chefs, it’s a relatively new team which has great potential. They too will benefit hugely from competing at the Culinary Olympics, the biggest competition that exists for chefs. The competition has been a steep learning curve for everyone involved.”

The Wales senior team is captained by Danny Burke, 39, co-owner of Shared Olive Restaurant and Olive Tree Catering, Hawarden. The other team members are Karl Jones Hughes and Simon Crockford from the Celtic Manor Resort, Newport, Ryan Jones from Dawn Meats, Cross Hands, Wales, Jason Hughes from Chateau Rhianfa, Menai Bridge and Michael Ramsden from Cambrian Training Company, Welshpool. CAW team manager is Peter Fuchs, culinary director at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport.

The Culinary Olympics is an important showcase not only for talented chefs but also for Welsh food and drink products. An accompanying Food and Drink Wales Showcase is being held in the Worldchefs Village to highlight the quality and innovation of Welsh products. A range of chilled and ambient products will be displayed and a presenter will speak to chefs about their provenance.

Double Gold Olympic Champion, Jade Jones - 22/08/16

Congratulations to North Walian Jade Jones on becoming a double gold Olympic Champion; a massive achievement at just 23 years of age.

Jade defended her title after defeating Eva Calvo Gómez in the 57kg gold medal taekwondo contest at the Carioca Arena on Thursday. She became Britain’s first Olympic taekwondo champion at London 2012 at just 19 years old. Our very own Mark Tovey was in Rio to watch his niece defend her title.

A date for her homecoming celebration is set to be finalised with Flintshire Council. You’ve done Wales, Great Britain & your Uncle Mark proud! Good luck for Tokyo 2020!

Celebrate Picnic Week

One of the great things about the weather warming up is being able to spend more time outdoors in the fresh air with good friends, eating, drinking and enjoying the environment. Why not bring the picnic vibes indoors?

A Picnic & Prosecco event

Serve a selection of tasty treats, presented in a wicker basket with gingham napkins it will bring that picnic feel indoors! Everyone loves unusual presentation and it will certainly get your customers talking. Present the chilled bottled alongside a selection of sandwiches, crisps, fresh fruit and sweet treats.

A picnic platter

Haven’t got any picnic baskets? Why not create a picnic platter sharing dish? You could serve a selection of charcuterie and cheese alongside pastries and mini sweet treats. You could even serve dessert shot, create mini version of your desserts presented in shot glasses. Perfect for lunchtimes or as a light bite during the warm weather. You could even offer a variety of picnic platters such as meaty, veggie, seafood or even gluten free

A picnic themed dish for your special board

Why not create a special picnic themed dish to feature on your specials board? How about a picnic loaf or a tear and share pasty. We’ve pinned some recipes to our Picnic board on Pinterest

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Exciting Opportunity for our customers

Samantha is a multi award winning chocolatier and pastry chef and is now working with Fine Foods specialist and SOSA direct distributors, HB Ingredients. We are privileged to have Samantha on board and working alongside our Development Chef, Steve Williams throughout June. They will be demonstrating the uses and benefits of the Sosa range and how it can work for your menu. From pubs and care homes to fine dining restaurants, the Sosa range is a truly versatile ingredient.

Applications are now open for Professional MasterChef 2016

If you're an aspiring chef, this is your opportunity! Professional MasterChef returns for it's ninth series and is once again looking for chefs with the talent and ambition to make it to the top of their industry

Long established as one of the top professional competitions in the country, Judges Marcus Wareing, Monica Galetti and Gregg Wallace continue to push contestants to prove they have the ability and passion to cut it in the world's best kitchens.

If you have culinary skills to battle against the best and the desire to cook at the highest level, this is the
only competition to be part of.

We won! - 03/03/16

The awards ceremony was held in Manchester on the 3
rd of March & we were crowned Foodservice Processor of the Year! This is a testament to all at Bwydlyn and Harlech Foodservice, their hard work in building up the business over the past 3 years and continued commitment to quality and customer care.

It’s been a great week for us at Harlech. Not only did we host our annual Foodservice Expo this week we also received the news that we have been included in the third edition of London Stock Exchange’s landmark 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain report.

To be selected for the list, businesses had to demonstrate not only positive growth in revenue over the last four years, but also significantly outperform their sector peers. 25 Welsh companies are among those named in a list of the most inspiring businesses in Britain. Amongst the Welsh Businesses featured in the report are Clogau Gold, Princes Gate Water and W R Davies (Motors).

An annual celebration; 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain celebrates some of the fastest-growing and most dynamic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK. As well as identifying 1,000 companies, the annual report examines in detail the opportunities and challenges facing SMEs and looks at the sectors and trends that will shape the future of the UK economy.

We’re delighted to have been nominated in two categories; Family Buisiness of the Year and Big Heart Award. The Red Ribbon Awards are the most prestigious accolade awarded to British family-owned comapnaies. They seek to recognise the incredible conrtibution that enterprising families make to the economy; both financially and as sustainable; responsible local businesses and employers.

As regional finalists we have been invited to represent Wales at the National Awards Cermony at Wembley Stadium on the 15
th of July 2016.

We will be amongst good company as some of our suppliers have also been sleected as regional finalists for Wales, Trioni ( Daioni) for the New Frontiers Award and Patchwork for the Best of British Award.

Wish us luck!

Project Solar PV Commences - 12/01/16

Work has commenced on the £220,000 250 kwp Solar PV system sited on the Harlech HQ building here in Llanystumdwy.

Once completed, hopefully towards the end of 2016, ROI is expected over 5.4 years and 100% of the energy generated will be recycled by the company. A further significant investment is planned for a PV system on Bwydlyn butchery extension later on in the year.

As well as the solar projects, Harlech continue to work towards being an all-round greener company. Here are some of the practices we currently have in place.

Motion sensor LED lighting throughout offices

Additional insulation and energy efficient fan motors in the coldstore

Defrost on demand system for all refrigeration units

Water recycling programme for our vehicle washing facility

Recycle programme throughout the business for cardboard, paper and plastic, glass, cans and food waste

We are also working on cutting down on the amount of paper used for our brochures by reducing the amount of pages (not products) in our publications such as our product guides

Celebrate Breakfast Week - 06/07/16

Breakfast Week is held every January and aims to champion the importance of eating breakfast and to get the nation to shake up its wake up and incorporate breakfast into their routines.

Anyone can get involved in Breakfast Week from restaurants & cafes to hotels & b&b's, schools & colleges even offices & workplaces can take part! Be part of this successful national campaign celebrating the most important meal of the day! If you grow, process or serve breakfast products then you can get involved. You can use the week as a vehicle for your own activity and promote breakfast in any way you choose. If you are stuck for ideas or if you just need some breakfast inspiration be sure to visit the
Shake Up Your Wake Up website. The website is jam-packed with resources from recipe videos to ideas on how you can take part.

The event takes place from the 24th to the 30th of January this year.

Finance Director Of the year Finalist - 13/11/2015

Fantastic achievement by our Finance Director Mike Clishem at the North West Financial Director Awards in Liverpool on Wednesday.

A distinction in wine tasting - 10/09/2015

with distinction! We can safely say he knows his wines! If your wine list needs a refresh or if you need a complete overhaul why not arrange a wine tasting with Steven and Bibendum Wine’s own Simon Awdry. Get in touch to arrange a tasting bay calling Steven on 01766 812853